Exit Strategy

Brilliant scientist and biotech startup founder Jordan Parrish, the hero of songwriter and producer Pettus’s terrific first novel, is in despair. His marriage to Stephanie, his Harvard professor wife, is falling apart after the recent death of their baby, and his company is failing. Jordan decides it’s in the best interest of Stephanie and his two surviving children to call on Exit Strategy, a service that helps wealthy people in trouble disappear. When he steps out of his Boston office, he’s immediately spirited away to a new life under a different name. Jordan comes to regret his choice to separate permanently from his loved ones, and, with a single “like” of Stephanie’s Instagram photo, sets in motion a cascade of events that he can barely control. By violating Exit Strategy’s no-contact rule, he puts his own life at risk, as well as those of his wife and kids. Jordan is no trained assassin like Bourne or Bond, but he does push his body and mind to the limit in his attempt to return to his family. Cerebral and visceral, this is a top-notch thriller. Agent: Stephen Barbara, Inkwell Management. (May)